1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing efficient, secure web-based recognition services. More particularly, an embodiment of the method relates to confidential encoding by dissociating image information into individual word segments, or snippets, at a distribution point and distributing the snippets over a network to users who subscribe to provide their services. Users could include college students, housewives, or any individual with Internet access. The users view the snippets, enter equivalent ASCII information for the snippets, and send the ASCII information back over the network to the distribution point for reassembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the course of a year, the USPS processes over 200 billion pieces of mail. In order to contend with such a daunting challenge, the Postal Service has embraced different approaches to process this tremendous volume efficiently.
While the USPS's automated recognition systems, such as the Remote Computer Reader (RCR), are currently operating at unprecedented performance levels, significant volumes of mail may be impacted favorably by an embodiment of the encoding method.
In keeping with its position as a trusted third party to its customers, the USPS utilizes stringent security approaches to maintain the confidentiality of all address content within the context of addressing.
Generally, mail pieces have a ZIP Code that identifies the delivery destination, and which mailers also represent in a machine readable POSTNET code format. When represented by barcode in the POSTNET format this encodes both the full ZIP Code and supplemental delivery information such as the last digits of a street address or an apartment number. This POSTNET code thus identifies a unique mail delivery destination, e.g., someone's particular mailbox. In addition mailers may also place additional data on a mailing label that is also in barcode format. This sender code, called a PLANET code, may contain a variety of information. This optional, mailer-assigned information, may include an embedded mailer id, subscriber information, calendar information, or address information. Thus, the PLANET code gives the mailer the ability to track a mail piece when the Postal Service scans it and provides location information back to the mailer. The Postal Service makes information available by offering such services to subscribers for a fee. The combination of the destination ZIP Code data in POSTNET code format and the PLANET code also creates a unique machine readable record for a mail piece and a delivery location.
The Remote Barcoding System (“RBCS”) involves a method of determining the appropriate ZIPCODE for letter mail. It basically consists of Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) systems, such as Multi-Line Optical Character Readers (“MLOCRs”), that autonomously recognize letter mail images and determine a result that is printed on the physical mailpiece in the form of a barcode, or POSTNET code. Images that do not receive an adequate result are further conveyed to remote keying sites, where operators view the destination address image scene and key either all or part of the address to obtain the appropriate ZIPCODE. Once the POSTNET code is determined it is printed, or “sprayed,” on the mailpiece before it continues for further processing.
The POSTNET code is a series of bars representing ZIPCODE. The POSTNET code encapsulates the numeric ZIPCODE into a simplistic barcode that may be read by barcode reading systems, which are faster and less expensive than OCRs.
Each mailpiece also is “tagged” at the beginning of the sorting process so that it may be later identified, as described in more detail below. Briefly, a machine-readable phosphorescent identification tag is printed or sprayed on the back of each mailpiece by an Identification Code Sorter (“ICS”) as it enters the MLOCR. This identification tag is unique to that particular piece of mail for 28 days, at which point the identification tag number is reused and sprayed on a different piece of mail.
Addresses that are not satisfactorily resolved by the MLOCR (because the ZIPCODE is not adequate for efficient distribution) are imaged and stored in an Image Capture Unit (“ICU”), along with their identification tag, for subsequent resolution. The ICU conveys compressed images of the addresses and the mailpiece identification tag over broadband T1 communication lines from a postal plant to other locations, such as across the town, across the state, or across the country. At these locations, called Remote Encoding Centers (“RECs”), the images are decompressed and displayed on video display terminals, and postal workers or postal contractors view the image and key in certain extraction codes of the destination address. Based on the keyed-in information, the proper ZIPCODE is determined by using extraction information to query a database containing a directory of addresses.
The identification tag and ZIPCODE is then conveyed back to the original postal plant, where the physical mailpiece is run on an Output Subsystem (“OSS”), which is a barcode sorter. Using the phosphorescent identification tag on the mailpiece, the ZIPCODE determined at the REC is matched to the mailpiece, and the corresponding POSTNET code is sprayed on the front of the physical mailpiece. The POSTNET code is read by machines throughout the sorting process to ultimately direct the mailpiece to the correct address.
The Identification Code Sorter (“ICS”) is a method of associating a ZIPCODE result for mailpieces when the POSTNET code cannot be readily applied. Such an instance might occur if there are stray marks or advertising graphics on the mailpiece.
Every mailpiece that is run on an MLOCR has an identification tag that identifies it uniquely. This tag, a phosphorescent barcode sprayed on the back of the mailpiece, allows a mailpiece to be uniquely identified as it is sent from an origination postal facility, for example in Merrifield, Va., to a destination postal facility, for example, Los Angeles.
As previously described, if an MLOCR is able to recognize an address on a mailpiece, it sprays a POSTNET code on the front of the mailpiece using an inkjet printer. POSTNET codes can be read on a barcode sorter, which is a less expensive piece of equipment than an MLOCR. Thus, when the mailpiece with the POSTNET code gets to the destination postal facility (e.g., Los Angeles), it does not have to be run through expensive OCRs again in Los Angeles. Instead, the barcode sorter reads this POSTNET code.
When the MLOCR cannot resolve the address, the ICS allows a mailpiece to be sent to its destination postal facility while an unverified POSTNET code is resolved and then, based on the identification tag on the mailpiece, is matched against the mailpiece at the destination facility. A mailpiece can take 2-3 days to get to its destination facility, and the POSTNET code can be verified while the mailpiece makes its journey to its destination, instead of delaying the mailpiece while it awaits its POSTNET code.
An image of the mailpiece is taken and tagged with the mailpiece identification tag at the origination facility, and the physical mailpiece is sent on its journey to the destination facility. Once the result for this image is keyed in at the REC, as described above, for this image, the result can be dispatched to the destination facility of the physical mailpiece. When the physical mailpiece arrives at its destination facility, it is processed by a barcode sorter that reads the identification tag and queries the list of keyed-in results to determine the ZIPCODE result. Once the ZIPCODE result is provided, the mailpiece moves through the OSS barcode sorter, and the POSTNET code is applied. However, such a process requires the USPS to maintain a costly infrastructure of fixed REC facilities, overhead, a staff of keyers, equipment, etc.
It would be desirable to provide a method that obtains the advantages of the present system while minimizing the need for expensive automated equipment.